Edo state is ready to invite investors who are interested in some of the focus commodities of the state, having mapped out swathes of land, and a data collection and retrieval system that will make entry into the state seamless.
In an exclusive interview conducted last year at the BusinessDay Agribusiness and Food Security Summit, Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo state hinted his administration was developing a master plan for agricultural development, focusing on high value crops like oil palm, rubber, and cocoa to an extent, then Cassava in terms of tubers, for grains; soybeans, then fruits, and legumes.
In a follow-up interview this year at the BusinessDay Agribusiness and Food Security where he was again, keynote speaker, Governor Obaseki was asked for an update on how far the state had gone in making the master plan a reality.
“We have done a lot of work and completed forest studies so we now know the expanse of land available for cultivation,” said Obaseki. “We have now surveyed and the next phase is to invite prospective investors to discuss terms under which they will now participate.”
According to him, the government did not want to pre-empt the expectations of investors by going ahead to build infrastructure. Part of the conversations he says the government will be having with them is what they require to set up their facilities and how to extend infrastructure to the different locations they want to set up production facilities, so as to reduce their cost of entry.
Data is a big deal in order for potential investors to make informed decisions on where exactly they should be deploying funds, hence, the need for a sort of one stop shop for access to information.
Obaseki told BusinessDay that the state’s Ease of Doing Business office has a ‘business bureau’ that serves as a repository for all issues related to investment in Edo state. For instance, when a potential investor requires data relating to Geographic Information System (GIS), or more specifically aerial maps or finding coordinates of locations, from the business bureau, such a person can be linked to the GIS office where the required data is then provided.
“In terms of data required for planning purposes in the communities they want to operate in, we are building all of that,” said Obaseki. “We hope that before we go for any transaction (with investors), we would have what you call a data warehouse, where people can review information.”
The Governor, who is currently seeking a second term, also got to discuss the state of agriculture under his administration in the last four years, and according to him, there has been significant progress.
“We have been honest with ourselves in admitting government does not have the internal capacity to implement the required things (by itself), and we have been looking for partners, and partnering with companies and firms who have the technical capacity,” he said.
Obaseki using fertilizer as an example explained that Edo state had an abandoned fertilizer plant, but realised under the Federal Government’s fertilizer programme that there was no need trying to do it by itself. Consequently, the state collaborated with WACOT and today, the fertiliser blending plant is working at full capacity, according to him. Also, in the area of building farms, the state created the agripreneur programme where it has partnered with NIRSAL and the CBN to provide funding and management support to bring in young farmers and develop farms.
“I believe with what we’ve done so far with the more than 5,000 young men and women who are involved in our various projects, so far so good, our initiatives have been quite resounding,” said Obaseki.
CALEB OJEWALE
